Happy 2025 Father's Day!

That's my dad, you see above, long long ago, with a really happy baby, who was me.

I have little memory of this photo being taken.

I look to be less than a year old.

Which, I think, would make dad 23 or 24. 

They married young, way back then...

Sunday Morning Turns Extremely Stormy With Warning To Watch For Flash Floods

This Sunday morning's unpredicted rain has now been dripping for a couple hours, and has now turned into extreme downpour mode, the rain so copiously thick that visibility is about zero, as evidenced by the view above, looking west from one of my living room windows.

A Flash Flood Watch Warning for Wichita Falls has just arrived on my computer screen, and my phone. 

I strongly suspect I will not be doing any outdoor aerobic endorphin inducing activity today.

But, maybe the outer world will lighten up by the time when my regularly scheduled fast-walking time arrives.

If such is the case, it will be to Sikes Lake I shall venture.

Sunday Morning Thunderstorm Look At Yesterday's No King Protests

The early Sunday morning zoomed view from my kitchen window. Rain is downpouring, thunder is booming. 

It has now rained, hard, for almost an hour. 

I have greatly enjoyed seeing all the photo documentation on the various news sources documenting how HUGE yesterday's world-wide NO KINGS Protests were.

Well, more precisely, enjoyed news sources other than FOX News, which has a alternative reality version of yesterday, including not letting the FOX propaganda recipients know what a low attendance debacle Trump's embarrassing parade turned out to be. 

I could only take a couple minutes of watching that parade. It looked ridiculous. Big tanks rolling by Trump's viewing stand, where he did not look like a happy birthday boy, sitting next to his bizarre Secretary of Defense and his wife. To be clear, the wife I refer to is Trump's, not the bizarre Secretary of Defense's current wife.

I blogged about my NO KINGS Protest experience yesterday in Downtown Wichita Falls Texas No Kings In America Protest. That blog post has had an unusually high number of page views.

The Wichita Falls Times New Record online version had zero coverage of yesterday's downtown Wichita Falls well attended protest. 

But, the Texoma Homepage did report the protest. The Texoma Homepage is the online version of the local NBC affiliate, KFDX Channel 3

Compared to elsewhere in America, the turnout protesting in Wichita Falls was not as big. The hundreds gathered seemed like a large crowd to me.

My old home zone's Skagit Valley Herald had zero photos or reporting about yesterday's NO KING Protests in any of the Skagit Valley towns. I know large crowds were expected in Mount Vernon and Burlington.

Former Burlingtonian, Miss Tamara A, currently residing in the Skagit Valley town of Anacortes, last night Facebook messaged me the following, documenting the NO KINGS Protest in Anacortes.

1,000! Now that is a big turnout.

But, not quite as big as the turnout in another town in my old home zone.

Other photos of the Seattle NO KINGS Protest gave a better look at the crowd size than the one I screen capped from the Seattle Times.

I have not yet seen an estimate of the total number estimated to have participated yesterday, worldwide in the NO KINGS Protests. The number has be in the millions. The number of millions is the question not yet answered.

Downtown Wichita Falls Texas No Kings In America Protest

The temperature was well into the 80s when I arrived in downtown Wichita Falls a few minutes past 10 this Saturday, June 14, 2025 morning, to participate in my local version of the National and International "No Kings In America" protests taking place all over America and the World today.

I did not know what to expect, crowd-size wise. And found myself pleased to find the protest so well attended so early in the three-hour protest.

The large number of clever signs also impressed me.

The mood of the crowd seemed upbeat. Passing vehicles honked horns and waved thumbs up. You can see and hear that in the video below.

My reaction to this was surprising to me. It was the first uplifting feeling I have experienced, at the level experienced today, since that absurd election result, last November.

Eventually I joined the others sitting under the shade of a heavily branched tree. Wind gusts brought some relief.

After several minutes of shade sitting the taco truck you see above showed up.

Before the taco truck driver could get totally parked, that lady with the sign was asking a guy to take a photo of her, with her phone, whilst she stood in front of the taco truck.

Why?

I don't know.

Show of support for our Mexican neighbors?

By the time I got my phone back on she was no longer holding the sign, straight up, in front of her. But you can still read the message on her sign.

And below is the previously referenced video. It has been awhile since I have made a video and uploaded it to YouTube. The process seems to have been made simpler than when last I uploaded a video.

Text message from Linda Lou, soon after I arrived at the protest, The message said, "Now Minnesota. I am so upset."

I had no clue what Linda Lou was talking about, so called her and learned what had happened in Minnesota.

At the downtown Wichita Falls protest today I saw absolutely no police presence. No police vehicle. No police on foot.

Wichita Falls is a peaceful town...

No Kings In Wichita Falls America Protest Event

Above you are looking at the location, in downtown Wichita Falls, of tomorrow's Saturday, June 14, 2025, No Kings in America protest.

The protest will taking place in a park across the street from that big blue building.

I expect a large crowd.

The last time I participated in an anti-Trump protest, in Wichita Falls, was at the start of the first Trump presidency. That protest was in the form of a march from Sikes Lake to a parking lot near where Kemp and Kell Boulevard meet. That protest march was a rather festive affair, with a lot of supportive horn honking from passing vehicles.

The article from this morning's Wichita Falls Times Record News, from whence I attained the above photo, and the below text...

Several organizations will join in an event 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday at 815 Scott Avenue (815 Scott Avenue is also known as Central Park) in downtown Wichita Falls.

The event is billed as "We the People Say No Kings in America" and is hosted by the organizations Indivisible, Red Wine, and Blue and the Wichita County Democratic Association.

"We are speaking out against the authoritarian tactics of this administration, the executive's current misuse of power and resources, and the violation of our constitutional rights," organizer Carroll Wilson said in a news release.

The release said the event will have speakers, music, signs and a children's area.

It said the local event is aligning with other rally movements across the country.

Hot Humid Thursday Sikes Lake Nature Communing With Gray Ladies

On this second Thursday of the 2025 version of June, with the outer world heated into the low 80s, with humidity extremely high, it was to nearby Sikes Lake I ventured for some salubrious endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation in steambath-like conditions.

As you can see, via the photo documentation, wildflowers are still blooming, impervious to getting sunburned or heat wilted. I do not know what this purple and yellow wildflower calls itself.

Soon after visiting the purple and yellow wildflower, I found a group of four ladies coming towards me, pushing baby strollers, with babies onboard. All the ladies were dressed in gray, with all but one wearing skirts, two of which were ankle length. The overall effect was sort of cult-like.

Of course, I waited til the gray ladies were well past me before I recorded them in photo posterity.

The above is the serene scene I saw after turning around after photo documenting the gray ladies. This view is looking west. The sky does not look too threatening, but turn around and look east, the view with the gray ladies, and the clouds look ominous.

Thunderstorming is on the weather menu for today. Of late the weather predicting locally has not been too accurate.

Saturday there will be a No King's Day Protest in downtown Wichita Falls. I have not yet decided if I will be participating...

Microsoft OneDrive Memory Takes Me To Wichita Falls Tulalip Casino Waterfall & Orcas

Interesting Microsoft OneDrive Memory from this Day showed up in my email this morning. Interesting due to being timely regarding news I read this morning about a similar thing in my current Wichita Falls location.

Wichita Falls is named after a waterfall on the Wichita River which disappeared way back in the late 1800s. Wiped out by a flood. One can walk by the location of the former waterfall via the Circle Trail. There is a sign letting you know you are at the location of the former waterfall.

So, after the Wichita River waterfall disappeared the town did not opt to remove "Falls" from its name, and just go by Wichita. Perhaps not wanting to be confused with the Wichita in Kansas.

After a century of visitors to Wichita Falls asking where the waterfall was the town decided to spend a few million bucks building an artificial waterfall. The artificial waterfall is prominently seen whilst driving by on the main freeway which passes through Wichita Falls.

However.

The artificial Wichita Falls waterfall is frequently turned off, which sort of defeats its purpose. The problem is the water for the artificial waterfall is sucked from the frequently super muddy Wichita River. The mud mucks up the pumping system, hence the frequent maintenance shutdowns.

So, the waterfall news referenced in the first paragraph above is the Wichita City Council is considering hiring some sort of engineering firm to analyze what needs to be done to renovate the Wichita Falls artificial waterfall.

Which takes us to the photo at the top which showed up this morning in my emails. That is a view of the entry to the Tulalip Casino Resort, in Marysville, in my old home state of Washington. The entry features a big realistic looking waterfall.

The Wichita Falls City Council should find out who built that Tulalip Casino waterfall and hire them to upgrade the Wichita Falls artificial waterfall.

Changing the subject, slightly, if you are ever in Washington, driving north of Seattle on I-5, it is well worth it to get off the freeway when you come to the Tulalip Casino exit, clearly visible from the freeway.

The interior of the casino is made to make it seem like you are underwater.

The exterior of the Tulalip Casino has water features in addition to the waterfall.

Such as Orcas, also known as Killer Whales, frolicking in the replicated sea. 

And a large statue of a Tulalip tribe member spearing salmon, by another waterfall.

There are a couple casinos a few miles north of my Wichita Falls location, on the north side of the Red River, in Oklahoma.

I have been to the closest one, the Apache Casino. There is a large parking lot in front of the casino, but nothing of the spectacular sort one sees at the Tulalip Casino in Marysville, Washington....

Tuesday Wichita Falls Public Library Visit Leads Me To Ultra Green Lucy Park

On this cloudy second Tuesday of the 2025 version of June I found myself needing to drive to downtown Wichita Falls, to the library, to replenish my supply of reading materials.

And, since it was nearby, and I was in need of some salubrious outdoor aerobic activity, to replenish my endorphin supply, leaving the library I headed west to Lucy Park.

I do not remember the outer world at my current North Texas location previously looking so lushly green as it currently looks. The past several years Wichita Falls, and the surrounding area, have been in dry drought mode. Resulting in a landscape shaded more towards brown, than green.

The above green view is looking north at the area of Lucy Park I call the Lucy Park Backwoods Jungle. Currently looking more jungle-like than I ever remember it looking.

Due to the jungle recently being flooded, mud remains, even though the flood has receded.

Hence, walking the Backwoods Jungle is not yet doable.

Continuing on I walked the Circle Trail, which runs parallel to the Wichita River at this location. The green landscape almost looks over saturated, almost not natural.

The river level has dropped significantly since my last Lucy Park visit. So, I was able to walk out on the Lucy Park Suspension Bridge without fast moving river water, below the swaying bridge, making me dizzy.

The bridge deck's wooden planks look to have been rendered a bit warped from being submerged under river water. Though the warped deck boards look a little dangerous, I carefully stepped on a couple warped planks and found them to be safely solid.

Saturday Morning Wichita Falls Horizontal Tornado Appearance

This first Saturday of 2025's version of June is starting off with some weird cloud action, looking like a horizontal tornado, as viewed from my kitchen window.

A thunderstorm was on the weather menu for a couple hours after the sun arrived to light up the day. But, no thunder was heard. Some rain did drop, soon after the above photo was taken.

It is now an hour after the above photo was taken, and the horizontal tornado has moved on. Or dissipated. 

Another thunderstorm is on the weather menu beginning the hour before noon. Which is my regularly scheduled endorphin acquisition time of the day.

The thunderstorm a couple days ago knocked out power to over 1,000 Wichita Falls homes. And one radio tower. 

My location has not suffered a serious power outage since the notorious multi-day outage a few Februarys ago, when the outer world chilled to below zero. 

I hope to not learn which is worse. No power, and thus no heat when the temperature is below zero. Or no power, and thus no air-conditioning, when the temperature is in the 100-degree zone...

Friday Sikes Lake Catfishing

On this first Friday of 2025's June, it was to Sikes Lake I ventured for some nature communing under a cloudy gray sky.

Of late the weather has been a bit frightful, what with random lightning bolts, hail balls, downpours and wind gusts with enough force to turn walking vertical to horizontal. Along with the need to dodge various projectiles sailing in the wind.

Soon upon beginning my high-speed walk around Sikes Lake I came to the scene you see above. Three kids fishing. Hoping to hook a catfish. For dinner. 

The three kid's means of motion, to bring them to the lake, was three scooters. Modern day scooters are a huge upgrade from the scooters which existed way back when I was a kid.

I took the above photo of Sikes Lake a minute before I came upon the three kids fishing. In this view we are on the rocky shore at the east end of the lake, looking west. The three kids fishing were about 50 feet to the left, or south, if you prefer compass type directional information.

That gray sky looks a bit menacing. Looking like lightning bolts or a tornado could come from those clouds.

Thunderstorming is on the weather menu for later today...